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Chapter 86
The burning sensation Ru had felt in her stomach when she was in the woods looking for the portal returned. “What do you mean?” she asked, one hand pressing down on her abdomen. “They won’t hurt her.”
He scoffed. “What do you mean they won’t hurt her? Rune, you know what she did. They have to punish her for that. They will punish her for that. Be certain.”
She was shaking her head wildly. “No, they won’t. No one is angry at my mother. It wasn’t her fault. She was a… a child. They’ve assured me she’ll come back home to Los Angeles, to her mother.” She realized she may have said too much, that perhaps she shouldn’t have given away their plan, but she was fairly certain the Reapers couldn’t do anything to the citizens of the village, and he would probably assume that her mother would return there anyway.
“It’s very sad th
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Reaper's Hollow Chapter 87
Ru sat at her Nana’s kitchen table sipping warm tea as the other woman worked on rolling out cookie dough. At her feet, Piper played with Nana’s cat, Patches, and Ru absently wondered how Piper even remembered what it was like to have another feline to play with since she hadn’t had any others around since she was a tiny kitten herself. Her neighbor had found the litter in the garage and it hadn’t taken much convincing for Ru to choose one. Piper stood out to her immediately. That was four years ago, back when Ru was a new teacher, and Piper had been her faithful companion ever since.“Cats are our best friends sometimes, aren’t they?” Nana asked, glancing up from her task long enough to catch Ru’s eyes. “My Patches has been a constant companion to me for… years.”“They are,” Ru agreed. She remembered Thanatos’s warning from the night before. The first “person” Ru thought o
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 88
Nana seemed a little stuck on the notion God had sent a divine prophecy on her back. She decided to let that go. At least the idea that her mother had said she ruined everything was cleared up once and for all, or so she hoped. “Do you know why Sera assumed she couldn’t come back here?” Thanatos’s words from the night before, his belief that the Keepers wanted to hurt her mom were fresh in her mind.“I have no idea. I told her both times she called that we just wanted the two of you home. The first time, she said she couldn’t come back. She was still in love with Larkin, still thinking he could be saved, that the world would be saved through their love or some such rubbish.” Ru couldn’t help but think the statement was a little harsh considering her mother likely was sincere with her emotions, even if they were misguided. “I always told her to come home. She wouldn’t. Brighton was out searching for her, you know, whe
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 89
Cutter’s house was empty when Ru arrived back, and she noticed his parents’ and Cinder’s vehicles were gone. Assuming they’d all gone out somewhere together, she’d tried the doorknob and been relieved they’d left it unlocked. She assumed they rarely went to the trouble to barricade the doors in these parts. Piper took to the stairs as soon as they met them, and Ru thought she might be retreating to the comfort of her own area for a while. Her own bed, dishes, and carrier might’ve been a consolation to her.Despite feeling a little odd walking through Windy and Walt’s home while they weren’t there, Ru headed for the kitchen in search of a drink of water. When she entered the cozy room, she saw Cutter sitting outside on the steps of the back porch. In the short time she’d lived with him at Angel Grove, she’d noticed he seemed to like to sit outside and think. While part of her thought it might be a good idea to l
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“So… my brother….”Ru looked up, surprised. She didn’t expect him to tackle that topic as well, not when he was already clearly uncomfortable. Perhaps he thought it would be easier to get it all out in the open at the same time. “Leaf?”Cutter licked his lips and then leaned back so that his forearms were resting on the porch behind him. “My siblings are much older than me. You may have noticed that with Cinder. She’s ten years older than I am. Leaf was thirteen years my senior.”Avoiding the statement that his mother either looked good for her age or had started out young, Ru only nodded. She’d caught Cinder’s statement that she’d been doing this for a few decades when she’d barked at her the night before.“My brother was my hero,” he continued, still not looking at her for more than split second glances at a time. “My mom did a lot of my training when
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Ru wanted to argue with Cutter, especially since she noticed how carefully he’d chosen his words, reassuring her that he thought of her only as a Keeper and not at all a Reaper, even though she had yet to reconcile that other part of herself at this point. Was it really as simple as choosing a side? If she had been capable of selecting an identity growing up, her life would’ve turned out much differently. She wouldn’t have chosen to be the unloved, under-appreciated, cast off “ugly stepsister.” Looking down, she realized his hand was on her arm, near her elbow, and noted this was the first time he had voluntarily touched her since her insensitive comment. The thought was fleeting, and she remembered his statement. “I don’t know, Cutter,” she admitted. “I guess it’s possible. I think it’s more like an ulcer at this point, though.” Her stomach screamed at her whenever she got anxious or upset, which didn’t a
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 92
The bedroom she was standing in was even more unfamiliar than the one she’d fallen asleep in likely an hour or two ago. The sunlight peeking through the curtained window revealed it was early morning in whatever dreamland she’d stumbled into. The border at the top of light blue walls consisted of trains, cars, and sailboats. That and the bedspread curled around a smallish, sleeping body revealed this room must belong to a young boy.Glancing around, Ru realized the room might be in need of updating. There were no toys similar to the ones in the border; instead, a table full of Legos took up a huge amount of space against one wall. There were figurines on a shelf, mostly Minecraft, Star Wars, and Pokémon. This child must’ve been about ten or so, she thought, though he seemed short for his age or was just really good at rolling into a ball. “Why am I here?” Ru whispered, not wanting to disturb him, but she was c
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“Really?” Kyle asked. Before she could answer, he dropped to his knee. “Hey, Ira, how would you like to go to a place where everything is made of Legos? You can build whatever you want to, all day long. No school. No interruption. Sounds cool, doesn’t it? Wanna go?”She could tell by Ira’s excited reaction he was considering it. Regardless of his preferences, she put both hands on his shoulders. “No!” she said, pulling him back a few steps. “You can’t do that! You can’t lie to him to get him to come with you.”“I’m not lying,” Kyle protested. “It’s true. What do you say, buddy?”Ira pulled away from her, giving her the harsh look he dealt to those who touched him without permission. “Stop, Ms. Roberts,” he insisted.“Ira,” she said, ducking her head to look into his eyes, “this is
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Ru breathed a sigh of relief but then looked up to see Thanatos, looking every bit like himself, no longer needing the ruse of Kyle, standing by the closet door. His forehead was bleeding and she assumed there was another gash in the back. “You ready for more?” she asked, raising her hands.“You know I can hurt you, too?” He stuck out his hand in her direction, as if he were about to shoot something at her, and Ru took a few steps backward.“I already sent for the others!” she shouted, hoping it would be enough to deter him. “They’ll be here any second.”At first, he seemed to be in doubt of her proclamation, but then something changed, and Ru wondered if someone really was coming. Perhaps he could sense it. She was likely not as sensitive as he was. With a loud exhale, Thanatos said, “This isn’t over!” and just as he had disappeared in the woo
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